Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria will tour Australia and New Zealand this month, including two packed days in Canberra where her schedule includes a smoking ceremony at the National Museum, a visit to Namadgi National Park and a talk at the Australian National University on "electrification" in the two countries.
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She and her husband, Prince Daniel of Sweden, will travel to Australia with Johan Forssell, the Swedish minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade.
Crown Princess Victoria, 45, is Sweden's heir apparent, the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia.
Sweden's ambassador to Australia, Pontus Melander, said the royal couple were due to arrive in Canberra on the evening of February 12.
They had a full two days of events in Canberra - Monday and Tuesday, February 13 and 14 - before heading to Sydney for more engagements over two days and then to New Zealand for a further two days.
"They will start here in Canberra with a welcome to country including a smoking ceremony at the National Museum, which will be very impressive," the ambassador said.
"Then we have a field visit to the Namadgi National Park to learn more about the effects of the bushfires and also to interact with the emergency services." And to see the koalas.
We are both two great mining countries. Mining is of utmost importance to our economies.
- Swedish Ambassador to Australia Pontus Melander says sustainable mining will be on the agenda during the royal tour
Government House will host a dinner for the royals on the evening of February 13.
The next day, February 14, Valentine's Day, the Crown Princess will plant a tree at the National Arboretum and then give the opening remarks at an event at the Australian National University, Electrification in Sweden and Australia.
ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt will host the event. He has a very important link to Sweden. In 2011, Professor Schmidt was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics, an honor bestowed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Sweden's Mr Forssell is also scheduled to meet with his Australian counterparts, International Development Minister Pat Conroy and Trade Minister Don Farrell.
In Sydney, the royals will attend a summit on sustainable mining.
"We are both two great mining countries," Ambassador Melander said.
"Mining is of utmost importance to our economies. We have a lot of Swedish companies involved, also in the mining industry in Australia, such as Ericsson and Epiroc, but we also have a lot of Australian mining interest in Sweden."
In Sydney, the Swedish royals will also visit the Opera House and Botanic Gardens and meet members of the Australian women's soccer team, the Matildas, whose head coach Tony Gustavsson is from Sweden. Many of the Matilda players also play in the Swedish women's soccer league in the off-season.
"That is a great opportunity to highlight, firstly, women's soccer and equal treatment of women's and men's soccer, which is also important to us," Mr Melander said.
"And to remind people of the Women's World Cup this summer in Australia and New Zealand."
The Ambassador said there was no driving ceremonial reason for the Swedish royals to visit Australia, although Crown Princess Victoria's father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, is in 2023 celebrating 50 years as the head of state.
"This tour was planned for before COVID, in 2020," he said.
"The then Swedish government wanted to highlight the very good bilateral relationship between Sweden and Australia. Though there is distance between our two countries, we have both shown you can overcome that distance."